Infant{40 s dressing table securement

ABSTRACT

A securement for restraining an infant on a dressing table employs a pair of straps and a three-slot-slide fastener. The straps are anchored at one end at opposite sides of the dressing table. Both straps are passed through the center slot in the fastener. Then each strap is looped back through the adjacent outside fastener slot to form a non-sliding anchoring point at the middle of the dressing table top for the two straps. In use, the free ends of the straps are engaged around the waist of the infant and fastened together so that the infant is held securely at the middle of the dressing table.

United States Patent 9 Boudreau Dec. 18, 1973 [54] g t gg ggf TABLE FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,350,503 12/1963 France .Q l28/l34 [75] Inventor: Alban M. Boudreau, Fitchburg,

Mass. Primary Examiner-Othell M. Simpson [73] Assignee: Hedstrom Co., Bedford, Pa. Assistant Examiner-Josef? Zatarga [22] F d M 22 1972 Attorney-Robert A. Cesari et al.

1e ay [21 Appl. No.: 255,800 A STRACT A securement for restraining an infant on a dressing [52] U 8 269/328 5/92 5/317 R table employs a pair of straps and a three-slot-slide 5 269/322 fastener. The straps are anchored at one end at oppo- 5H {m Cl A6lg 13/00 site sides of the dressing table. Both straps are passed [58] Fie'ld "5 through the center slot in the fastener. Then each 128/134 1 250/54 strap is looped back through the adjacent outside fastener slot to form a non-sliding anchoring point at the l 56] References Cited middle of the dressing table top for the two straps. ln use, the free ends ofthe straps are engaged around the I UNITED STATES PATENTS waist of the infant and fastened together so that the g; 3 g" infant is held securely at the middle of the dressing tae uy 3,358.!4! l2/l967 Hoffmann et al 269/328 X ble 3.035.278 5/]962 4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures Golding 269/328 X PATENTEH BEL 18 I975 FIG.4

INF ANT'S DRESSING TABLE SECUREMENT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to juvenile furniture. It relates more particularly to an improved safety securement for an infants dressing table.

Present day changing and dressing tables for babies are usually outfitted with a safety strap for holding the baby on the table while the mothers attention is momentarily diverted for one reason or another. The simplest type of conventional securement consists of a pair of straps which are anchored at one end at opposite sides of the dressing table and whose other ends buckle together in some fashion. That type of arrangement is not satisfactory because the strap does not snugly encircle the baby. Rather, the infant is free to move sideways under the strap and in some cases he can slide out from under the strap.

middle of the dressing table top. The fastener now pro- Another type of securement which we are aware of consists of four separate strap sections and three double-slot fasteners. Onestrap is passed through one slot of each of two fasteners and then both ends of the straps are secured to the underside of the table at opposite sides thereof. A second short section of strap is passed through the other slot of the same two fastners and is heat sealed to itself to make a closed loop. This forms an anchoring point at the center of the dressing table for a third strap which is passed through the same two slots in the aforesaid two fasteners. The free ends of the third strap-are engaged around the waist of the baby and fastened together with a two-slot fastener.

While this arrangement securely holds the baby, it is relatively expensive, involving, as it does, four separate lengths of strap and three separate fasteners. Moreover, the anchoring point at the center of the dressing table is fairly bulky and could cause some discomfort to the baby.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims to provide a securement for an infants dressing table which is relatively inexpensive to make.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a securement which has minimum'bulk and should be less of a source of discomfort to an infant.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a securement for an infants dressing table which has a relatively few number of separate parts and hence is inexpensive to make.

Other objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

The securement is designed for use on an infants dressing table having a flat, preferably padded, surface. A table such as this is disclosed in application Ser. No. 103,956, filed Jan. 4, 1971, entitled Infants Dressing Table. It comprises a pair of straps which are secured at one end underneath. opposite sides of the dressing table. Each strap is then passed down through the side slots of a special three-slot fastener which will be described in detail later. Each strap is then passed up through a center slot in the fastener and pulled taut so that the fastener is retained by the two straps near the vides a non-slidable anchor point at the center of the dressing table.

In use, the free ends of the two straps are engaged around the waist of the baby and buckled together using a conventional two-slot fastener. With this arrangement, the safety strap snugly encircles the infants waist so that he cannot slip out. Furthermore, although he is held firmly right at the center of the table, he can turn and roll to some extent about the anchoring point so that he still has freedom of movement.

The present arrangement has fewer parts than conventional securing straps and requires fewer heat seals to secure the straps so that its cost is relatively low.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a' perspective view, with parts cut away, showing an infants dressing table outfitted with a safety securement embodying the principles of this-invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing the securement in greater detail;

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the three-slot fastener shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a front perspective view showing the twoslot fasteners used to buckle the straps around the baby.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Turning now to FIG. 1 of the drawing, a conventional infants dressing table 10 has a flat top surface 10a. Preferably, a pad 12 covers the top for the babys comfort. The improved securement is shown generally at 14 restraining an infant shown in dotted lines at 17 near the middle of the table. While the securement 14 holds the baby securely in place, the child is still able to roll and turn so that he does not lack freedom of movement, a condition which might tend tofrustrate him.

Turning now to FIG. 2, the securement M'is composed of a pair of straps 16 and 18. One end of each site sides of the table. Thus, in FIG. 1, the end 18a of strap 18 is anchored at a point underneath the right hand side of the table by a screw 22.The corresponding end of strap 16 is anchored in a similar fashion underneath the opposite side of table top 10a.

The free ends 16b and 18b of the straps 16 and 18 are then brought up around the sides of pad 12 and passed through a special three-slot fastener 24 positioned near the middle of pad 12. As best seen in FIG. 3, fastener 24 has three slots 26a, 26b, and 260, the slots being somewhat longer than the straps are wide. The free ends of straps 16 and 18 are passed down through the side slots 26b and 26c respectively. Then strap 16 is looped up through the center slot 26a. When the two straps are pulled apart, the fastener 24 is retained and forms a secure, non-sliding anchoring point at the center of pad 12.

Means are provided for securing together the free ends 16b and 18b of the two straps when it is desired to restrain the baby 17 as shown in FIG. 1. More particularly, a'conventional two-slot buckle type fastener 28 is secured to the end of strap 16. As best seen in FIG. 4, fastener 28 includes a pair of slots 32a and 32b. The strap end 16b is passed up through slot 32a and then down through slot 32!). The end 16b of the of the strap is then folded back on itself and then anchored to itself by heat seals 34. 7

When it is desired to use the dressing table, the infant is placed on the pad 12 on top of fastener 24 as shown in FIG. 1. Following this, the free ends of the straps 16 and 18 are brought up around to the babys waist. The strap end 18b is then passed up through the fastener slot 32b and down through the fastener slot 32a. When the strap end 18b is pulled fairly tight, the straps l6 and 18 snugly encircle the babys body so that he cannot slide free; yet, he still has a degree of freedom of movement on the table.

The present arrangement has only three parts, not including the conventional buckle 28. Moreover, these parts are relatively inexpensive, the straps l6 and 18 being made of plastic and fasteners 24 and 28 consisting of simple metal stampings. In additon, the anchoring point at the center of the dressing table is not bulky and the relatively soft straps l6 and 18 are situated between the metal fastener 24 and the babys back. Therefore the arrangement should cause no discomfit to the infant.

it will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained, and since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

l. A securement for an infants dressing table comprising A. a table, B. a first strap; C. means for securing one end of the first strap to the table top at one side thereof; D. a second strap; E. means for securing one end of the second strap to the table top at the opposite side thereof; F. a fastener 1. having three slots arranged to receive the straps,

and 2. being positioned on the dressing table top near the middle thereof, said straps extending down through the adjacent outside slot in the fastener and both straps being looped back up through the middle slot therein so that when the two straps are pulled taut, the fastener constitutes a non-sliding anchor point near the middle of the dressing table top; and G. means for removably securing the other ends of the two straps around-an infant placed on the dressing table. 2. The securement defined in claim 1 wherein A. the fastener is a stamped metal part, and B. the straps are made of plastic. 3. The securement defined in claim 1 wherein the removable securing means is a buckle A. permanently secured to the other end of one of the straps; and B. arranged to slidably receive the other end of the other strap. 4. The securement defined in claim 3 wherein the buckle is secured by means of a heat-sealed loop in the strap. 

1. A securement for an infants'' dressing table comprising A. a table, B. a first strap; C. means for securing one end of the first strap to the table top at one side thereof; D. a second strap; E. means for securing one end of the second strap to the table top at the opposite side thereof; F. a fastener
 1. having three slots arranged to receive the straps, and
 2. being positioned on the dressing table top near the middle thereof, said straps extending down through the adjacent outside slot in the fastener and both straps being looped back up through the middle slot therein so that when the two straps are pulled taut, the fastener constitutes a non-sliding anchor point near the middle of the dressing table top; and G. means for removably securing the other ends of the two straps around an infant placed on the dressing table.
 2. being positioned on the dressing table top near the middle thereof, said straps extending down through the adjacent outside slot in the fastener and both straps being looped back up through the middle slot therein so that when the two straps are pulled taut, the fastener constitutes a non-sliding anchor point near the middle of the dressing table top; and G. means for removably securing the other ends of the two straps around an infant placed on the dressing table.
 2. The securement defined in claim 1 wherein A. the fastener is a stamped metal part, and B. the straps are made of plastic.
 3. The securement defined in claim 1 wherein the removable securing means is a buckle A. permanently secured to the other end of one of the straps; and B. arranged to slidably receive the other end of the other strap.
 4. The securement defined in claim 3 wherein the buckle is secured by means of a heat-sealed loop in the strap. 